Objective: Although internalizing and externalizing disorders have received considerable attention among young population, the mechanisms that explain the relationships of internalization and externalization symptoms with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents are not well understood. Since sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms had significant associations with ADHD, and internalization/externalization disorders, we examined whether SCT may mediate between ADHD symptoms and internalizing/externalizing problems during childhood. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart-review of 95 children and adolescents (76 boys and 19 girls, aged 6–16) with ADHD. The severity of ADHD was evaluated by Turgay DSM-IV-Based Disruptive Behavioral Disorders Screening and Rating Scale (T-DSMIV-S) completed by teachers. Measures of SCT, internalisation and externalisation symptoms, social, thought, and attentional problems were based on the Teacher Report Form (TRF) that was completed by subjects’ primary teachers. Results: The withdrawn scores were significantly correlated with SCT scores, social problems, and ADHD-inattention. There was an inverse correlation between withdrawn and ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity scores. The mediation test using bootstrapping method showed that the indirect coefficient for SCT was significant, after controlling of ADHD-inattention and social problems covariates, consistent with partial mediation. Conclusion: Our results may demonstrate that while externalization symptoms were associated with hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms of ADHD, the internalization symptoms were significantly related to SCT in youngs with ADHD. Specifically, although social withdrawal was significantly related to ADHD-inattention, this relationship was mediated by the severity of SCT.

Although the impact of parental obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) on children is well known, there is a still need to investigate additional psychopathological effects that parental OCD may have on children. To our knowledge, the relationship between Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome (CDS), previously referred to as Sluggish Cognitive Tempo CDS in children and parents’ OCD has not been investigated to date. In this study, we examined the relationship between parental OCD and children’s CDS, while adjusting for parental anxiety, depression, as well as symptoms of internalization, externalization, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in their children. 50 parents with OCD and 45 healthy parents were assessed through Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The children were applied Child Behavior Checklist, Children ADD/ADHD DSM-IV Based Diagnostic Screening, and Barkley Child Attention Scale (BCAS). BCAS showed significant correlations with BAI (r = 0.280, p = .049), child ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (r = 0.407, p = .003), and ADHD-inattention (r = 0.628, p < .001). The severity of ADHD-inattention (β = 0.618, p = .001) and parental OCD (β = 0.275, p = .016) were significant predictors of CDS severity in the children. Our findings may suggest a significant association between the severity of CDS and ADHD-inattention in children and parental OCD, even after controlling for parental anxiety.

Background: No clinician-oriented scale exists to assess irritability in Turkey. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of The Clinician Affective Reactivity Index (CL-ARI). Method: A total of 116 children and adolescents aged between 10 to 17 years (14.1 ± 2.1 years) were recruited from the psychiatric outpatient clinics. The participants completed a set of scales (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ], Affective Reactivity Index [ARI], Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale, Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, Version IV Scale). Diagnostic interviews were administered to confirm psychiatric diagnoses. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to assess internal consistency. Discriminant validity was further tested using independent sample t-test and Receiver Operating Characteristic curves. Interrater reliability was tested using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Convergent validity was also tested using Pearson’s correlation. Results: Cronbach’s alpha values of CL-ARI were 0.919 total score, 0.842 for the temper outbursts score, 0.861 for the irritable mood score, and 0.840 for the impairment score. ICC values for interrater reliability were high for the temper outbursts (r = 0.993), the irritable mood (r = 0.993), the impairment (r = 0.917), and the total score (r = 0.991). In the sample, there was a high level of correlation between the self-report ARI-child/parent form and the CL-ARI total and subscale scores. Likewise, moderate-high level of correlations were found between the behavioral SDQ child/parent forms and the CL-ARI total and subscale scores. Conclusions: This is the Turkish validation of the CL-ARI, a dedicated interview and rating scale to assess irritability in the clinical sample. The results of this study suggest that the Turkish version of CL-ARI has adequate internal consistency and interrater reliability, and sufficient convergent and discriminant validity to be used in research settings.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a significant psychiatric disorder among children and adolescents. It is important that the relationship with depression is analyzed in adolescents in which cognitive and metacognitive processes are different from adult individuals. Forty-five patients and 44 healthy controls were included in our study. Participants were administered Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Barratt Impulsivity Scale, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), and Stroop test. When the DERS total scores were evaluated, a statistically significant difference was found between the 2 groups in terms of DERS scores. In the healthy controls, the emotion regulation skills were significantly higher compared with the MDD group. In the Stroop test, particularly in the fifth section, the control group displayed a statistically significant better performance in both total duration and the number of mistakes made compared with the study group. In the BRIEF test a statistically significant difference was found between the control group and the study group in all 3 areas. In order to determine the efficient factors related to the statistical difference between the BRIEF scores, the multiple linear regression analysis was used. It was found that depression scores and Stroop performance influence executive functions. Given that Stoop performance can overlap with executive functions, this outcome was expected. However, the impact of depression scores affecting executive functions is also anticipated, considering that these scores particularly affect attention among the cognitive and maladaptive cognitive processes, such as rumination.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social media use (SMU) in children diagnosed with major depression (MD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and various psychosocial factors, including familial functioning, parental SMU, and parent-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. A healthy control group was included for comparison. Methods: The study included 121 children and adolescents aged 10–18 years (36 with MD, 41 with ADHD, and 44 healthy controls). The Social Media Addiction Scale—Short Form (SMDS) was administered to all participants, while mothers completed the McMaster Family Assessment Scale (FAS), the Social Media Addiction Scale—Adult Form (SMAS-AF), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Psychiatric diagnoses were made using the K-SADS-PL DSM-5-T. Correlation and linear regression analyses were used to assess associations among variables. Results: SMU scores were significantly higher in the ADHD group compared to both the depression and control groups. Parental SMU was also higher in the ADHD group. In the depression group, child SMU was significantly associated with internalizing symptoms and impaired family communication. In the ADHD group, child SMU was predicted by poor family problem-solving and communication. Regression analyses showed that internalizing symptoms and family communication predicted SMU in the depression group (R² = 0.335), while family problem-solving and communication predicted SMU in the ADHD group (R² = 0.709). Conclusion: The findings suggest that social media use in children with depression and ADHD is associated with different psychosocial factors. While internalizing symptoms and family communication are more prominent in depressed children, family functioning—particularly problem-solving and communication—plays a larger role in children with ADHD. These results emphasize the need for targeted family-based interventions to mitigate problematic SMU in clinical populations.